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TOTS Lesson Plans

Tokaido, Origami, Temples and Shrines (TOTS) Japan Project

This project (TOTS) created a new, visually rich “Virtual Japan Experience” curriculum series developed by a cohort of K-12 and community college educators for dissemination in schools across diverse subject areas, grade levels, and socio-economic populations. The project complements The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center (EASC)’s successful “Take and Go” lesson plans by preparing and enabling a cohort of teachers to create their own visual sources, a digital archive, and other curricular resources that can be incorporated into the classroom. This cohort of educators serves as a conduit, both to enhance understanding of Japan to their students and to impact other K-12 and community college teachers through the material they develop, and EASC and the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) share broadly.

Themes:

  • Temples and Shrines: Nature, Symbols, Rituals, and Art; Temples at Shrines and Shrines at Temples
  • Origami: Folded Emotions, Patterns in Nature; Folding 1,000 Cranes Tradition
  • Tokaido Road: Bugs, Food, Music, and Children Along the Tokaido Road (Japan’s National Road)


TOTS Project includes:

  • 13 educators from K-12 schools & community colleges in OH, IN, IL, PA, MI
  • Instructors who teach a variety of subject areas and grade levels, at public and private schools with diverse socio-economic populations
  • 3 groups focusing on creating curriculum / digital archive about the Tokaido Road, Origami, and Temples & Shrines
  • In June 2025, spent 10 days gathering visual resources in Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Hakone, and Tokyo

Sponsors:

University of Pittsburgh national coordinating site for the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) Asian Studies Center, University Center for International Studies and a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant to the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University.

This project is coordinated by the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University.